South Wins on 2-Foot Hit : Mission Bay’s Rees Earns the Victory In 5 Innings of Relief

Kids with dreams of reaching the highest levels of baseball gave it the old major league try Friday night, and as is often the case in high school all-star games, that meant giving the fans a little bit of everything.

The California North-South All-Star series opened its three-game run at Smith Field and offered three passed balls, three wild pitches, seven errors and even a batter who reached first base on a fielder’s choice after striking out.

If you haven’t seen that one before, try remembering the last time you saw somebody try to score from first on a popup to the second baseman--and not make it.

As fun as it was, it was also even, right up to the bottom of the ninth inning, when the South won, 6-5, on--ready?--a two-foot RBI single by La Mirada High catcher Eric Brooks.

Brooks’ winning hit, a chopper in front of the plate that was fielded by North catcher Mike Harrison, scored Esperanza’s Doug Saunders from third.

Saunders, who earlier had three hits and drove in three runs, slid around the tag as Harrison turned around too late.

The run made a winner of Mission Bay left-hander Sean Rees, who struck out eight in five innings of relief and allowed just one unearned run.

“Sean really came in and turned the tide for us,” South Coach Steve Vickery said. “It may have looked like kind of a crazy game, but these kids wanted it real bad.”

Of the 34 players on the two rosters, 17 have been drafted by major league teams.

The North took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single by South San Francisco’s Lou Lucca. In the fourth, RBI singles by Dan Cholowsky of Bellarmine High in San Jose and Peter Lawrence of Logan High in Fremont made it 4-0.

But Saunders drove in a run with a single during a two-run fifth and put the South ahead, 5-4, on a two-run double in the sixth.

One of the passed balls, this against Brooks, allowed the North to tie, 5-5, in the seventh.

In the bottom of the eighth, Rees batted with Brooks on third and one out. He struck out, but the ball got away from Harrison. Brooks tried to score, but Harrison threw to pitcher Joe Caruso covering at the plate for the out. Rees reached on a fielder’s choice.

In the top of the ninth, Lawrence was on first with two outs when Damon Mashore of Concord High in Clayton Valley lofted a popup to Saunders at second. Saunders wavered under the ball and dropped it, and it rolled toward shortstop Randy Graves of Riverside Poly.

Lawrence, running on the play, tried to score, but Graves’ throw beat him to the plate and the game remained tied, 5-5.